What's in your cone?

Yes, it's ice cream season and we are so blessed to have a Carvel's just up the road within in easy walking distance. Great excuse to go on a walk. In fact it was the reward for being good on the walk last night. Now we haven't gone that many times - it's been kind of cool up until now, but we did go last night.
What's a Carvel? Well it's sort of homemade ice cream so it's soft and creamy and comes in various flavors with lots of yummy ingredients like cookie bits, cake bits, peanut butter, and fruit. My favorite is the rainbow sherbert - I think there are like 6 different flavors in it. I've now determined that since you get two scoops for a small that I can request two flavors on my cone so I get the freshly made sherbert if I'm in the mood for that. The orange and lemon were my choices yesterday. Next time maybe the pink and blue - don't ask me what flavors those are I couldn't quite tell. I can't wait for a birthday so we can get one of their ice cream cakes - there is one in the shape of a whale. Is that appropriate or what? It's chocolate if that helps any? So what's in your cone?

Memorial Day Festivities

What would Memorial Day be without a small town parade? We were quite excited to score a great parking spot and also hit the bakery before the parade started - it should have been a sign as to the size of this event. Before the parade could even start there was a fire call so all the fire trucks took off with half the parade! Seriously these pictures are about 3/4 of the parade. Towards the end Mark, in his stage whisper voice, said "Is this it?" and the lady driving the ambulance SUV said "yes". I had to laugh - I'm always telling him he talks really loud and even she heard him. Like I said it was a small parade. The local paper today said 350 people were there. Not sure who they were counting, but that is at least double what I saw. My favorite was the local Democrats. Need I say more? Seriously I missed the two best Democrats to get the full effect - sorry...

After the parade we walked the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. It's heavily traveled by lots of cars and trucks and is about 2 miles long and really, really high. Can I say really HIGH one more time? I hate heights, but I did it - and no I will not walk across it when you come visit. Did it once and that is more than enough. Here are a few pictures to prove it. Notice my arm muscles clinging to the rail?

Newburgh in the background.

Mark is fearing his sunglasses will be blown off - the winds were blowing 25 mph!

View from the middle

I made it to the other side! Notice I'm only gripping my bag now?

That is Beaon in the background now.

Things in the City!

So we ditched the gas guzzling SUV and took the train to the city on Friday night. It's $20 a person round trip - less than gas and parking! I ended up getting the "good seat" - which in my family is the window seat and Mark didn't even fight me for it. The view of the river is well worth just the ride alone. If it wasn't a commuter route to the city I'm sure it would be big with the tourists. Our hotel was down near Wall Street and truly is a best kept secret. Club Quarters - very nice, but small. Like you care when you aren't there to be in your room. They had a water machine with free bottles you refill. Very cool. Comfy bed and nice shower. What more do you want? You might not be in Times Square, but the subway is right there and that gets you anywhere you want to go. We hit Little Italy for dinner and next time will roll the dice and just pick a place at the last minute. The food was ok - nothing wonderful or unique. I did see lots of other cool places to eat for next time. To get to Little Italy we had to walk through China Town and I think I might like to eat in one of those places - but must do some research. In the morning we took a walk down to Battery Park where you can catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty - I guess we were just in time for a wet suit show or something? Maybe a race. LOL!

Now it's beyond me why some people weren't wearing wet suits, but we didn't stick around long enough to see if they were brave enough to jump in the water with those in wet suits. I know the water must have been freezing cold! And notice I didn't take their pictures! LOL!

This is as close to Lady Liberty as I got (see her way in the background) - the line was at least a half a mile long to just get on the boat. No way will I wait that long for anything... except maybe a huge brownie sundae or something equally sinful. Maybe on a future trip it will be shorter and we'll do it - I would like to without the wait. Yes, I am a bit spoiled and hate lines and waiting and crowds.
We then hopped the subway to Yankee Stadium and had lunch at a the Court Diner near there. Beat the hot dogs we had last time in the stadium. Our tickets were in the bleachers and while it's way out there it was right behind the bull pen and that was fun to see all the pitchers warming up and let me tell you there was a lot of that going on! The people were the best part. I had this big brassy lady in front of me and it turns out she is sitting between her daughter and future son-in-law. Poor guy is all I can say. I was quite excited when she moved down a seat as I could then see without sitting up totally straight and leaning towards the guy next to me. Good thing she couldn't drink or she would have been totally obnoxious (we were in the no beer section). Didn't know that when I got the tickets, but it was just fine and no one spilled on us. Beer gets warm in the sun and we don't drink it fast enough. A Coke is a better bet. The Yankee's won - probably my pretty pink new Yankee hat brought them good luck or something. ha.... They do really stink this season. This is the view from our seats:

See the ants on the field -those are the players!

Our trip home was uneventful and we even rode backwards so I could again have a window seat. It took some strategy to not end up in the "hot" car, but we did good. For some reason the air conditioning wasn't in all the cars. Weird and miserable if you ask me. It's a good thing we spent the night in the city on Friday as I now have a miserable cold and it's beautiful out. Go figure. Maybe the warmth will dry me out! We did hit a few golf balls at the driving range - hoping to play a round soon!

Where is summer?

So we had that tease of nice weather a couple weeks ago and nothing since then. Cold and rainy... I'm ready for summer. We are going to a baseball game this weekend and on a date to NYC so that might make it seem more like summer - it's warm in the city right? We are still house hunting every Sunday and found another one we liked this past weekend. Even has the Mother-in-law suite in the basement. For some reason I would think that those stairs would be hard on someone older, but what do I know. It had lots of space for visitors so maybe I should call it the Sens Suite. Not nearly as cool as the Ford Bedroom, but still sort of fun and this one will have it's own private bathroom. If you are a good guest I won't run the kitchen appliances at bedtime. First and foremost we have to sell our house in Michigan. ugh. In the meantime I'm a HGTV die hard at the moment and even Mark will agree to watch those shows.
On the food front I spied a new deli open at lunch today across from my favorite sandwich place - Cibo. I wonder if they give free mini cupcakes and carmel corn with their sandwiches? hmmm... what will get me to try it? Not sure yet, but I might just check it out next week.

Lilacs finally....

Mark in Lilac Lane....



See the little bee - Mark found him!
Can you smell the lilacs now? I almost can. mmmmm.....

Always the traveler

Since we took a really long ride this weekend to Rochester we had lots of time to talk. Our first talk was where are we stopping for dinner - food always comes first. I get cranky when I'm hungry and I was hungry. Our original destination for Friday night was Verona and a visit to the casino there, but that plan was delayed in the rush to Rochester. So we decided to still hit Verona for dinner at this place Mark had been to as a child - it has a big cow out front. That's what he remembers. So we didn't know the name or even really where it was so we used the trusty Garmin once we got close and figured out it must be Joel's Big Steakhouse - cow = steak was our theory and we were right! Big old plastic cow out front. We both ended up with fish and were very pleased or as Mark said your childhood rememberences are never as good as you recall, but this was even better. Mine was crusted with parm cheese and had a dill-mayo under it. Excellent choice. We will be back I'm sure on one of our many road trips to Rochester this summer.
Our other topic had to do with the fact my husband has never bought any bath soap in the entire time I've known him and no this is not an "ewwww" moment because he does wash each day with soap. He never has to buy it as he always has extra's from all his road trips for work. Let me tell you we have enough soap to last a really long time and we've even given some away. I usually prefer my body wash, but every once in a while I'll use them too. Right now we are using a big bar we got on our honeymoon. Yes crazy I know - I only know where it's from because it says Marriott Kauai on the box. I can't figure out why most hotels give you two to three bars a night - you know facial, body, and hand soap - just a waste. We know what to do with it! Take it home! And then there is the coffee that we don't drink ... makes a great surprise for Grandma and whichever parent we see first. In case you're wondering he doesn't bring every free item home - lotions are a no-no as they are a pain to get out of the little bottles. So the next time you're in a hotel....

Busy Weekend in Rochester

Plans have been in the works for ages to come to Rochester for this weekend to celebrate Uncle Greg and Aunt Jean's retirement. They both retired this winter and I hear they are already back to "work". Uncle Greg has been at the fire hall driving the truck and doing flowers.
Our weekend turned a little crazy with Mark's dad being re-admitted to the hospital on Friday night. Mind you he's only made it to an observation room, but hopefully he'll be up on the liver floor by Monday. His ammonia levels are high and now that he's taking some meds it's coming down. Monday they meet with the transplant team to see where he's at the on the scale. He's perking up quite well so hopefully it will be good news. Sounds like they have some great doctors and he's in the right place.
Right near the hospital there was a huge Lilac Festival on Saturday and we took our chances with the crowds and checked it out. Lots of music and I think great food - we lost our patience waiting in line for Nick Thaos garbage plate and ended up eating a blooming onion and red hot (hot dog Rochester style). I just knew there had to be lilacs somewhere as it is a festival about them and we found them! A long lane of all sorts. I will post pictures soon. It was pure heaven - that lilac scent. mmmmmm.... better than the food!
So we are off to the hospital this morning and then back to the Wegmans to celebrate Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all!

Creative Genius?

So we live in an apartment and don't have a place to wash our car at "home". We've noticed that the sprinkler leading into our complex is on the fritz and sprays into the road in a nice arc every night. Hmmm... looks like a car wash to me - at the very least it will wash off the yellow dust also known as pollen. We'd only done it once this past weekend - laughing all the while. Now you'd think we were the only ones to figure this out, but no. Last night I come home and am pulling into the drive up the apartments and I see two cars stopped/moving very slowly. I guess they figured it out too. So they both "wash" their cars and then I notice that I have someone behind me so I'm not too slow as it is a roadway. Well I then notice in my mirror that he is going slow too! Feel sorry for the poor schmuck who is watering the pavement - that's a mightly pricey car wash for him. LOL! I can't wait to be in a real house soon.

Always looking for a Winner

So we like to gamble - this can range from 50/50 tickets at a baseball game to lottery scratch off's to a night at the casino. Oh and the Kentucky Derby (we didn't win at all this year!) Anyway I think we've found something even more fun! Mark does love to grocery shop, as many of you know, and our local grocery store has a promotion going with scratch and wins. Donate a $1 to the American Cancer Society and get a scratch and win ticket. You are guaranteed a prize if you don't win the cash portion. So what are we winning? Well at first I thought it was healthy stuff as that would make sense as part of a cancer promotion. Things like yogurt, Alive water, juice, and Hostess Mini-treats. Ok maybe they aren't healthy, but they are only 100 calories! Each time we go to the store we buy several - it's exciting and we win fun treats. This weekend I got a bag of Ghirdelli chocolates, Edy's Ice Cream, and chicken patties. Don't think that fits a healthy lifestyle, but it is good and I can justify the healthy in each. The chocolate was dark, the ice cream is full of calcium, and the chicken is white meat. Got it covered. The grocery store has upped the ante a bit too since this has been going on at least 3 weeks and now you get a scoop of Edy's Ice Cream with your purchase. Yum - we bought $5 worth yesterday which means 5 scoops. LOL! I only had 2 scoops and Mark had one - I was told to come back and get more if I wanted too. Nice guy! Must be it looks like I like ice cream a lot. Well I sort of do, but I don't need that much! And do you think we remembered the grocery bags - nope. Need to come up with a good system to remember them!